{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O78859"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78859/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM5727/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM5727/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM5727","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT0094","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM5726","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2021NA1273","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2021NA1274","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O78859/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O78859","accessionNumber":"T.44 to B-1954","objectType":"Book cover","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This binding contains the Holy Bible, printed in London in 1651, together with <i>The Whole Book of Psalms, collected unto English Meeter</i>, printed in London in 1652. Embroidery was much used for the bindings of religious books or presentation copies in England in the 16th century and first half of the 17th. Although new ornate covers were sometimes made for precious books of an earlier date, the embroidery here is likely to be contemporary with its contents. The silk-lined, leather-bound storage box was custom-made to hold and protect the book in the 1880s.<br><br><b>Materials & Making</b><br>Book bindings were sometimes worked by skilled amateur embroiderers. The best-known examples are a series of books with embroidered bindings worked by the future Elizabeth I for her father Henry VIII and his last wife Catherine Parr as New Year gifts. The subjects and styles of embroidery chosen for book bindings were close to those used for other small items worked at home. Motifs were copied from pattern books and prints, or panels could be bought already drawn out. Most Old Testament scenes used in embroidery, including this one, were taken originally from a book of biblical stories published by Gerard de Jode in Antwerp in 1585.<br><br><b>Subjects Depicted</b><br>This book binding shows scenes from the Old Testament story of Elijah, the Widow of Zarephath, and her son. This identification is supported by the prominent three-dimensional rendering of sticks, a central element of the story, as well as comparison with the publications of Gerard de Jode, whose Bible illustrations were a frequent source for embroidery.","physicalDescription":"Book cover of embroidered satin in silks, bible box, and book mark plaited with pink silk and silver threads. The Holy Bible is covered with embroidered white satin with seed pearls and coloured silks in split, long and short, needlepoint, outline, satin and Florentine stitches, French knots and couched work. On the front cover is Elijah seated beneath a tree, on the back cover is the widow of Zarephath with her son, and on the spine are five square compartments with animals and flowers. Fastens in the front with two pierced metal clasps.\n\nHard box covered with dark blue leather and lined with blue watered silk. Inscribed in gold with 'Holy Bible / Embroidered Binding / 1651' and stamped \"Bound by Rivere & Son\" on the inner rim of the box lid.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"embroiderer","id":"AAT25352"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Riviere & Son","id":"AUTH391014"},"association":{"text":"box maker","id":"x40982"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silk","id":"AAT243428"},{"text":"silver thread","id":"x29414"},{"text":"seed pearls","id":"x30724"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"}],"techniques":[{"text":"embroidery","id":"x30339"},{"text":"couching","id":"AAT53654"},{"text":"needle-point","id":"AAT61985"},{"text":"satin stitch","id":"x47116"},{"text":"plaiting","id":"x46516"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Embroidered satin in silks, plaited with silk and silver threads, seed pearls, metal\r\n\r\nBox: wood covered with leather, lined with watered silk","categories":[{"text":"Books","id":"THES48986"},{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES48960"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Leather","id":"THES49030"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2006AM5727","2006AT0094","2006AM5726","2021NA1273","2021NA1274"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"56D","id":"THES49242"},"free":"","case":"CA3","shelf":"DR1","box":"22"},{"current":{"text":"56D (VA)","id":"THES49242"},"free":"","case":"CA3","shelf":"DR1","box":"22"},{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES311877"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Book cover","id":""}],[{"text":"Book mark","id":""}],[{"text":"Box","id":"AAT38879"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1652","earliest":"1647-01-01","latest":"1656-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Sir Frederick Richmond, Bt","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"15","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions checked: Measured; 13/09/2000 by KB","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The storage box was made for this book in the 1880s by the firm of Rivere & Son who were founded in Bath in 1829, moved to London in 1840, and closed in 1939. In 1881, the company name was changed from Robert Riviere to \"Riviere & Son\" when Robert's grandson Percival Calkin became a partner, and in 1889, Percival's brother also became a partner. This would place the box's date of manufacture within the 1880s, when just one (grand)son was a business partner.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Book cover of embroidered satin in silks and book mark plaited with silk and silver threads, England, ca. 1652.\r\n\r\nBlue morocco leather storage box lined in watered silk by Riviere & Son, London, 1880s","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Noorda , Meredith Hanna, <i>Making the Bible a Fashion Accessory in Seventeenth-Century England: Materiality, Market, and the Present-Tense Protestantism of Embroidered Book Covers</i>, Journal of Early Modern Christianity 2025; 12(2): 375–401"}],"production":"For 'The Holy Bible', 1651-1652\r\nCollected unto English Meeter. Printed by A.M. For the Companie of Stationers, London, 1652","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThe front cover shows the figure of Abraham. With his hand he directs Hagar, and their son Ishmael (shown on the back cover) into the wilderness. The style of the embroidery is similar to contemporary mirror frames and caskets that were worked by women at home, rather than in commercial workshops.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["T.44-1954","T.44A-1954","T.44B-1954"],"accessionNumberNum":"44","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1954,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Book cover","Book mark","Bible box"],"assets":["2019LR1265","2019LP4482","2019LP1593","2019LU6893","2019LU6529","2019LV5524"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-12","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":false}}